What you are seeing below are outtakes from some of our pending works in progress. The second book of the “Fireman Down” series is expected out by Christmas 2019. The other two excerpts below are from our nonfiction book “On Prevailing Winds”, A novice guide on how to get to the Bahamas. Then “The Devil’s Walk”, a thriller/horror fiction story.
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“Fireman Down – Free Burning”
All was quiet. Too quiet. Even the nighttime noises that would have filled the air had stopped. It was as if they to had sensed the impending disaster. The normal chatter of crickets were no where to be heard.
Even the bats that would have provided a background chatter were absent. The harshness of the impending storm had left everything in a state of shock. It was as if they were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
A shadow eased out of the darkness and moved slowly forward. Still unsure of what might lie ahead, this fathom of the evening would take no chances. Too much was riding on this mission.
Its current target held the key to moving things forward. The last time this figment of the evening had struck, only seconds had separated freedom from incarceration. That damn asshole from the fire department almost sealed its fate. He had showed up out of nowhere.
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“On Prevailing Winds – A Cruising Lifestyle”
*** This release will be delayed to incorporate the most up to date information post Dorian***
Chapter 1 – Intro to the Cruising idea
Are you really committed to moving onto a sailboat? The statistics show that the number of people who purchase a sailboat and move aboard and find that they actually use it are staggering low. So many people play with the idea of living on a boat. Their dreams are of living afloat in the Caribbean under beautiful skies and crystal clear seas. The buy a boat, invest their life saving into it but never leave the dock. Many eventually are forced to sell their dreams when the harsh reality hits home.
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“The Devil’s Sail”
As Walt stood there, the shadowy figure moved quietly past him. He felt the air turn cold as if he had walked into a refrigerator. That feeling on those old docks left him with a shiver as the mirage coasted further past him.
The vivid details of his encounter would haunt his nightly dreams. The ghastly robe the figure wore was darker than that of the blackest of nights. The bottom edge of it drug on the floor as it walked on. It stirred the dirt into small dust devils. These spun off the edges of the robe and trailed slowly behind it as if on a leash. The stench of rotting flesh intermingled with the smell of cooking coals. His mind screamed brimstone but he had never considered what that smell would have been. The vision of the figure’s face was blurred almost as if heat waves shimmered in front of it.
His eyes followed the figure as it turned to the right and started down the walkway onto the ship. His ears rang as if his head was inside a bell. The pain that shot through his head was as if he had been stabbed.
Past the rows of old corroded pipes that hung from the ceiling. The figure moved around the distant corner and vanished from sight.
Walt stood there stunned. He blinked, while his mind raced to understand what he had just saw. The rational side of his mind struggled to explain what it was that he had just saw. The other half stood there frozen in fear.
Not a religious person, his mind reeled at the image that was now burned into his mind. Satan. Beelzebub. Lucifer. Antichrist. So many terms to describe what had just brushed him.
He grabbed the rail on the dock, as his world had started to spin. In the ninety degree heat, the chill of frozen air caused him to shake.
Walt peered into the darkness of the vessel. All those aged pipes that hung from the ceiling seemed to be covered in a layer of frost. The covers cracked and dripped water to the deck. Slowly, the drips of water pooled on the floor in ever growing puddles.
The eerie creak of the boat moved in the slip added to his uneasiness. The dull glow of red appeared to reflect off the bulkhead past where the mirage had walked.
He stood there, ears ringing, oblivious to the crowd that surged past him. Did no one else see that? His mind searched for a rational answer to what had just happened. Not a soul turned to see what had just occurred.